Toy train trouble leaves customer looking for help

They may only be toys, but they're worth big bucks. Complaints are piling up against a local toy store that doesn't just cater to kids.

One Houstonian who left his father's Lionel trains at My Toys on Westheimer Road in west Houston to be sold said he hasn't seen the trains or his money in five months.

Michael Steenbergen left his father's 1950s model train collection on consignment pricing the trains at about about $1,500.

"Maybe 50 trains plus tracks and buildings and accessories and switches, and that sort of stuff," Steenbergen said.

Steenbergen runs a comics shop not far from the toy store.

He said he was surprised when he went back a couple weeks later and found his trains were gone

"She said they were away at a show and they had sold some of them, and she would get back to me and let me know how they were doing," Steenbergen said. "I went back repeatedly over the next month, month in a half, asking for the same stuff. She said the computer was down, she sent me an email, said they were on another computer, she said her computer crashed -- there was always an excuse."

Steenbergen said the owner finally admitted the trains were gone and promised her son would give him a check, but Steenbergen still hasn't seen any money.

Steenbergen said he has hired a lawyer and his next move will be to go to court.

The Houston Better Business Bureau said it has received complaints from two other customers who said they paid for items at My Toys that were never delivered. The BBB said the store's owner has not responded to those complaints.

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